Would Indira, Rajiv Gandhi have gone to an event where ‘Bharat ke tukde’ slogans were raised: Arun Jaitley

Arun Jaitley said, "I hope those who claim the political legacy of Pandit ji, if they have an aptitude for reading, will certainly read Vajpayee's obituary tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru in Parliament in 1964."

Would Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi ever gone to an event where 'Bharat ke tukde tukde' slogans were raised: Arun Jaitley

Arun Jaitley said, “Degeneration of ideology because of personal grievances and ambitions compelled Congress party leadership to do so.” (ANI photo)

Attacking the Congress over “degeneration of ideology”, senior BJP leader and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said personal grievances and ambitions had compelled the party leadership to do so.

“Would Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi ever have gone to a congregation where “Bharat ke tukde tukde” slogans were raised? Certainly not. But now degeneration of ideology because of personal grievances and ambitions compelled Congress party leadership to do so,” ANI quoted Jaitley as saying at India Ideas Conclave. which was organised by India Foundation.

Praising Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his respect towards first prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru despite belonging to different parties, Jaitley said, “Vajpayee’s single best speech according to me was in Parliament in May 1964, when as a 38-year-old MP and leader of Jana Sangh, he stood up to pay his obituary tribute to Nehru. In my view, in independent India, a speech of that quality is unprecedented.”

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The finance minister further said, “I hope those who claim the political legacy of Pandit ji, if they have an aptitude for reading, will certainly read Vajpayee’s obituary tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru in Parliament in 1964.”

In 2016, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, along with other party leaders, had joined the solidarity meeting by hundreds of JNU students and teachers demanding then JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar’s release after he was arrested on sedition charges.

Kumar was charged following an event organised on the death anniversary of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru where allegedly anti-national slogans against his hanging were raised.

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